Professional Scottish Genealogy & Family History Research

Growing your family tree in 2016

2016 Genealogical Goals

As we start a new year I hope you have had time to reflect on the progress you made with your family history in 2015 and are enjoying planning your research goals for 2016.

Inevitably there will be lines that have ground to a stop because you haven’t been able to find that vital record or crucial piece of evidence. Throughout 2016 I will be posting hints and tips to help grow your family tree.

As this is Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design I will also be including some posts on Scotland’s beautiful built heritage, culture and environment along with a few posts on my favourite subject of gravestones.

Revisiting records

As part of your genealogical journey this year consider reviewing some of the sources that you have previously checked. Each year the National Records of Scotland release new images available to view online. From the 1st January it became possible to view images for statutory births for 1915, marriages for 1940 and deaths for 1965.

More recent records can only be viewed at one of ScotlandsPeople centres, if you are unable to visit in person I offer look ups as part of my research services.

Other sites such as Ancestry and Find My Past are also often updated with additions to the record sets and transcription corrections.

Whenever you use an online database remember to record the location of the record and when you carried out the research. This will make it easier to check back later and assess if any new records have been added.

I hope 2016 is the year in which you solve some of your mysteries, make exciting genealogical discoveries and enjoy success in achieving your research goals.